40BR Setup & Stocking

40 Gallon Breeder (36x18)

25 lb Sand

15 lb Rock - Planning on adding additional live rock over time.

Eheim Jager Heater

Reef Octopus BH1000 HoB Skimmer (Debating this or a AC110 HoB Filter)

Odyssea 48" 54Wx2 T5 HO 6400K



Stocking:

2 Clown Fish

1 Flame Angel

3 Chromis



This is my first Saltwater experience. How does all of this look? The only supply that has not been bought is the HoB Skimmer. Would this tank be properly stocked? Any comments, advice, or critism would be grealy appreciated.

 

I'm purchasing my fish from Clowns & Coral. It was suggested that I cycle with a pair of clowns and slowly add the other stock 6+ weeks down the line after the nitrate spike. The clowns were suggested due to their hardiness. Do you think the Chromis would be a better fit for cycling? I'm also not in love with the Chromis and would be willing to put something else in their place.

 

Lol, thank you for that correction, 3 ft 39Wx2 with one 10k bulk and one actinic bulb. Will this be ok for these fish and potentially anemones down the road?

 

I did order a bottle of Nitrifying Bacteria to add to hopefully help speed up the process. The information regarding conspecific aggression is very useful, thank you. I will likely be using an AC110 HoB filter for the duration of cycling and it is currently on a freshwater tank. Would leaving that bioload on the filter be beneficial or would it cause a huge algae bloom and really mess up my saltwater parameters? Also, how feasible would running that AC110 on there for an extended period of time. I apologize for all the questions, but I really appreciate the insight and feedback. I've spent a handful of hours doing research but so much "information" is based on opinion it seems.

Thanks.

 

Once again, thanks for all the feedback. I set the tank up today and ended up going with 2 Eheim canister filters off of my 75 for right now and look into the HoB Skimmers in the future. My main concern was the noise level. I will likely cycle with a single Green Blue Chromis after a week or so with the tank running consistently with the nitrified bacteria. Since my Chromis stocking has been cut down to 1, I will likely add the Chromis first, Pair of Clowns a few weeks later, and Angelfish a few weeks later and maybe an additional fish after that.

 

Update: My new tank is now near the one month mark. I rushed things a little more than I probably should have but made my decisions based on what my water parameters and what I've observed. Some corrections to my initial post, I originally added 15 lbs of dry rock. I also added a similiar 2nd light that's 24" to bring my total T5 wattage to roughly 100W I also had 2 cheap Petco powerheads laying around rated at 250ish GPH each so I added those. I added a yellowtail damsel after a couple of days. 2 days later I added a Blue Devil Damsel(In hindsight should have passed). After about 5 days I noticed some brown algae growth which from what I read was normal. Around 1 week the nitrifying bacteria arrived and I added it immediately. I monitored the water parameters over the next couple of weeks and the cycling appeared to be very accelerated. The tank appeared to be cycled between week 2 and week 3. This may be credited to the nitrifying bacteria or the fact that the 2 eheim canisters have a huge amount of bioload, even though they were cleaned and rinsed with hot tap water, I'm sure some of that bacteria remained. So at 3 weeks I added 2 Black/White clowns, a 6-line wrasse, and 15 lbs of live rock. Also shortly after my Toms Aquarium Skimmer attachment for canister filters came and I installed that. It's been a week since then, 4 weeks total and everything appears to be going as planned. Notice some aggression from the Blue Devil Damsel when the new fish were added but that appears to have diminished.

How much additional live rock should I add and what is more important, rock height or amount of footprint covered by rock. Should I have a couple of rocks that reach near the top of the tank?
How am I doing on waterflow/current. First couple of weeks I had to turn off the powerheads because it was moving too much sand. That appears to be under control now. Currently have 500 rate GPH powerhead total + 2 Eheim Ecco 2236.
Additions in the near future include a Flame Angel and additional live rock.
Changes in the near future may include replacing the canister filters with a HoB Skimmer, but I really like how quiet the canisters are and when cleaning them, I've found very little waste buildup. I may also look into exchanging the 2 T5 lights for a lighting system around 200W, which from what I've read will be required for me to have any anemones that will host.

I will post some pics later today when I have the chance to clean some of the brown algae off the front.